Beginner looking for First Project

[michael pierzga]

Yes, launching day !! BEER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Oh and as an Apartment Shipyard Project why not go micro and build an elegant Cradle Boat. Good building experience and you can always Ebay it when finished to claw back material costs. Do a bit of googling, plenty of designs around for baby crib boats. Or , speaking of beer................... instead of a micro baby crib...a MICRO MOBLIE BEER COOLER BOAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then sell it for ten grand to the beer company so that they can promote their brew at regatta events.

http://www.viking-boats.com/Cradleboatproject.htm

[sean-nós]

Originally Posted by DavidC

Thanks for the responses, guys.

@SeanNos--you have what I want. I love it. I watched a couple of your videos, just how cold was it on launch day? The space you built her in appears be a longer than my patio & maybe a foot or two wider. But, I could remove the sliding patio doors, at least temporarily. Though the property manager may get her panties in a bind.

Thanks David, yep it was a cold day alright but I could not wait till summer to launch I was too excited

There are a few boats here for you to look at from 8' that still have the classic look https://www.boatdesigns.com/Outboards/departments/10/ if you see one you like look it up in here to see some builds http://boatbuilders.glen-l.com/boatbuilding-galleries/

[benjy1966]

Ahoy David,

Might I suggest a Fliptail (http://www.woodenwidget.com/fliptail.htm) I am chronically biased here but if you are new to the boat building scene, the Fliptail is ideal as it will introduce you to boat building basics and is very simple to build. Plus it folds so you can throw it in the back of the car, or stow it easily in your house. With a small set of wheels you could even tow it behind a bicycle!

Maybe it's a bit too small for you but it takes and outboard and rows too but as you're looking for experience you could do worse. Materials are cheap and it could be made for as little as $300. You could even sell it for a profit after it's made. At least you'll learn whether you like working with epoxy and wood!

This winter I will be designing a larger 7 foot version of the Fliptail which has proven to be very popular indeed. Here's a little video of it in action (http://www.woodenwidget.com/vid21.htm)

The Stasha nesting dinghy was also mentioned as a possible for you. The advantages of this design is that it is nesting so you are in effect building two very short boats. Great if you are short on building space. I built mine on the quay, much to the amusement of passers by.

Also I should mention that all Woodenwidget plans come with a huge amount of extra info about all aspects of building boats and woodworking. The plans have been specifically designed for those who have never built a boat before.

I suggest building a small dinghy first and that way you will learn the basics without spending a fortune or wasting much time. If you enjoy the experience then you can move on to bigger, more involved and costly designs.

I hope this helps. Good luck building whatever boat you decide on. Go for it!

Benjy